THE PIED GEALLINA. 329 



by a bird, tbe fierce heat of the tropical sun baking the clay near- 

 ly as hard as brick. 



The ordinary shape of the nest may be seen by reference to 

 the illustration, which was drawn from a remarkably fine speci- 

 men in the British Museum. It is domed, rounded, and haa the 

 entrance in the side. Its walls are fully an inch in thickness, and 

 it looks strong enough to bear rolling about on the ground. This 

 specimen was placed on a branch, but the bird is not very particu- 

 lar as to the locality of its nest, sometimes building it on a branch 

 of a tree, sometimes on a beam in an outhouse, and now and then 

 on the top of palings ; generally, however, it is built in the bush- 

 es, but without any attempt at concealment. Owing to its dimen- 

 sions and shape, the nest is extremely conspicuous, and the utter 

 indifference of the bird on this subject is not the least curious 

 part of its history. 



Strong as is the nest, it is still farther strengthened by a pecul- 

 iarity in the architecture, which is not visible from the exterior. 

 If one of the nests be carefully divided, the observer will see that 

 the interior is even more singular than the outside. Crossing the 

 nest from side to side is a wall or partition, made of the same ma- 

 terials as the outer shell, and reaching nearly to the -top of the 

 dome, thus dividing the nest into two chambers, and having also 

 the effect of strengthening the whole structure. The inner cham- 

 ber is devoted to the work of incubation, and within it is a soft 

 bed of feathers on which the eggs are placed. The female sits 

 upon them in this dark chamber, and the outer room is probably 

 used by her mate. The reader will remember that several in- 

 stances of such supplementary nests have already been mentioned. 

 The eggs are generally four in number. 



Both sexes work at the construction of the nest, and seem to 

 find the labor rather long and severe, as they are continually em- 

 ployed in fetching clay, grass, and other materials, or in working 

 them together with their bills. While thus employed they are 

 very jealous of the presence of other birds, and drive them away 

 fiercely, screaming shrilly as they attack the intruder. 



Australia produces the two remarkable birds whose nests are 

 given in the accompanying illustration. • 



The first of these feathered builders is the Pied G-rallina 

 {Qrallina Australis), a bird which has become familiar to the pub- 

 lic since its introduction to the Zoological Gardens. A pair of 



